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- Professor of Theology and Religious Studies Christopher Denny, Ph. D., on the Many Titles of the Virgin Mary
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The feast days that honor her are varied and plentiful, like Our Lady of Lourdes, Our Lady of Fátima, Our Lady of the Rosary, and many others.
But whatever name Catholics prefer to call her, there is one thread that runs through all of the titles — a deep love and devotion for her.
What makes the various titles and feast days connected to Mary noteworthy is the fact that they were inspired for the most part by ordinary, everyday Christians throughout the centuries — as opposed to being imposed by the Church’s hierarchy — said Christopher Denny, professor of history of Christian theology at St. John’s University in Jamaica.
“In general, the titles applied to Mary arise first and foremost out of popular devotion,” Denny said. “I think that the theology of Mary in the Roman Catholic Church is distinctive because Marian devotion is something that comes from the grassroots.”
Denny noted that “in the ancient Church, crowds aren’t reading theological treatises,” but instead were listening to clergy preaching to them.
“And so, that popular preaching and the response to it sort of drove to the Church’s theology and its devotion to Mary in a very critical way,” he said.
Many of the feast days celebrating the Blessed Mother stem from apparitions in which she appeared to the lowly and the poor.
As examples, Denny pointed to the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, which celebrates the Blessed Mother’s appearance before an indigent Mexican named Juan Diego in 1531, and to Our Lady of Lourdes, which marks the apparition in 1858 when Mary appeared to a peasant girl named Bernadette Soubirous 18 times.
And then there is the apparition in Fátima, in which Mary appeared to three Portuguese peasant children.
“I think some sort of sociological reality applies here,” Denny said. “I’m surrounded in my office by books, books written by people with degrees. And they’re sometimes complicated to read.
“But of all the different facets of Catholic theology, Marian theology is the one that I think is in touch with the most profound extent with the grassroots.”
Another interesting aspect of Marian devotion is how each nationality embraces Mary as its own, Denny said. “The way Mary appears to Bernadette in Lourdes and to Juan Diego in Mexico is different than the way she appeared in Fátima,” he added.
However, there were two titles by which Mary was known that the Vatican recently ruled against — co-redemptrix and mediatrix of all graces.
The Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith issued a decree on Nov. 5 stating that the Blessed Mother cannot be referred to as a co-redemptrix because it gives the erroneous impression that she is a redeemer, when only Jesus will lead the faithful to salvation.
The dicastery discourages Mediatrix as a title for Mary because she cannot serve as a mediator to hold back God’s wrath.
Denny said the Vatican seems to be seeking to clarify Mary’s role.
“I think if you don’t qualify titles like co-redemptrix and mediatrix, Mary ends up looking like the fourth person of God,” he explained, adding that there could be a second reason. “I think the Church is trying to put guardrails on the use of these titles.”
However, there are many names and titles for Mary approved by the Church.
“If you go to the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C., you see a plethora of chapels, and so many of them are devoted to Mary with different titles,” Denny said. “I think this indicates how global the church with Marian apparitions being part of people’s devotions on six continents.”